1 . Social media offer great ways to socialize and connect with friends and others who share similar interests.     1     . And if you haven’t met the person in real life, it’s hard to know their true identity or their real intentions. Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself online.

    2     . When was the last time you Googled yourself? Doing so regularly is a good way to see what kinds of information about you-or images and videos of you — are publicly available. You can also set up a Google Alert (谷歌快讯) for yourself so you’ll be told whenever a new item about you is posted online.

Be careful when you check in or share your location. When checking in somewhere or sharing your location, be aware that you’re actually sharing your whereabouts (行踪) with everyone who has access to what you post.     3     .

Don’t share personal information online. Regardless of what kind of social media you’re on, don’t share personal information like your phone number, home address, email address or student ID number.     4     . Make sure you know who you’re sharing it with and why they need the information.

    5     . We all have too many passwords, but it’s important to ensure that all your passwords are different. A good password should contain a few capital letters, numbers and a symbol. Don’t share your passwords and be sure to change them regularly.

2 . Here are five habits to help you enjoy a longer and better life.

Reduce stress.     1     . Too much or long-term stress, however, can have a negative effect on your health. While no one has a stress-free life, there are steps you can take to manage your response to stress.

Eat better. You don’t have to adopt some crazy diet or give up all sweets.     2     . You can also eat more whole foods.

    3     . When you feel good, it’s easy to avoid going to the doctor. No matter how you feel, though, it’s a good idea to visit your doctor for an annual check-up. The doctor will most likely check your blood pressure. Depending on your age and family history, the doctor may recommend certain tests.

Keep moving. Exercise lowers blood pressure, and improves mood. Some research also says it has the power to keep us young. You don’t have to take up running marathons.     4     .

Connect with friends.     5     . Steps to build a social network include getting involved with joining a cause or volunteering for an organization.

3 . Health Is Better Than Wealth

It is widely known that health is of great significance. Leading a healthy life is crucial as being ill makes it hard to be happy.

To enjoy a happy and healthy life, we should take the following steps. Firstly, we need to have breakfast every day and take in proper amounts of vitamins and minerals while reducing fat and cholesterol intake.     1    . Secondly, getting enough sleep is essential (本质的) as it is related to good health. Without sufficient sleep, our memory, learning and logical thinking will be negatively influenced.     2    . Thirdly, regular exercise is of utmost importance. It helps with weight control and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints, and also reduces the risk of certain diseases.     3    . Moreover, bodily hygiene matters. We should keep good dental hygiene by brushing our teeth morning and night, and visiting the dentist yearly for teeth cleaning.     4    . Last but not least, taking up a hobby is beneficial as hobbies are pleasant and relaxing activities that assist (帮助) people in living happier, healthier and recovering better from illness.     5    .

In conclusion, by following these steps, we can lead a healthy life and stay away from diseases.

4 . Do Animals Have Friends?

When you see little animals playing together around a tree, or a cat and dog sleeping together in the living room, do you ever think — are they friends? One expert, Mike, believes that many animals do have friends. If they’re in the same group, they greet one another, travel together, play together and even share food with each other.     1    

Playing together helps animals keep them close to the group. Wild dogs who don’t play much are more likely to leave the group on their own.     2     If an animal has a special friend, both friends benefit by having someone to watch out for them. In the case of a young rhino (犀牛) going on its first journey, it may look for an older travel friend.     3    

Sharing is another important part of friendship. For all animals, finding food is a matter of life and death. For some bats in Central and South America, if they don’t get a blood meal every three days, they die of hunger.     4     If a bat doesn’t find food, a full bat will throw up some blood from its stomach into the mouth of the hungry friend.

But sometimes members of a group also compete for food and mates, which can lead to fights. So making up after fights is a key skill. Sometimes after two male monkeys have a fight, they will sit apart, avoiding each other.     5     An older female monkey may need to step in to play peace-maker. She will walk up to one of them, kiss or touch him, then slowly walk toward the other. Then she sits close to the second male. Both start grooming (梳毛) her. When she leaves, they continue to groom each other, as if to say, “We’re cool now.”

5 . Wildfires are common nowadays. Lightning, campfires, power lines or other sources may lead to big wildfires.     1     But when they break out on populated places, wildfires can endanger human lives and property.

Still, wildfires have always been a part of some forest ecosystems.     2     For one thing, wildfires can get rid of trespassers(入侵者). The native animals often know how to escape a wildfire. But harmful species may not, so they could get wiped out.

Fires can prevent trees from overcrowding each other, which allows smaller plants and animals that need sunlight to grow below. Plus, wildfires burn up a lot of leaf litter, pine needles and other dead matter on the ground. This clears out junk that may stop new plants from growing and releases nutrition back into the soil.     3    

There are also species that have evolved (进化) to depend on regular wildfires. Banksia trees in Australia, for instance, only release their seeds in the heat of a wildfire.     4     And birds such as the black-backed woodpecker prefer to live in recently burned areas, because newly burnt trees may offer easy access to a feast of insects.

    5     They set these fires only in areas and under weather conditions where they're sure they can control the flames. Specific burns are meant to provide the benefits of natural, low-intensity fires. So, one important way to protect against fires is professionals setting them.

6 . When it comes to happiness, our present selves habitually get deprived (剥夺).     1     In the middle of a busy workday, you think, “I’ll be happy when I get this done.” When you get the task done, you think, “I’ll be happy when I’m on vacation…”

When we are doing these, it’s as if we put true happiness in a package addressed to us at some future time when circumstances will be just right for it to happen. Yet, the package keeps getting lost.     2    

What causes this? How can we avoid this result? We should know the reason why we make such choices and why our future selves seem like strangers to us is partially due to the abstractness of tomorrow. The solution is to make the future more vivid and create an emotional connection between the present and future selves. Here are several ways to strengthen the connection.

    3     Write a letter to your future self and send back a reply. Then you may gain insights into your future self’s needs that would get you to take helpful action now.

Visualize the best version of yourself.     4     Importantly, focus on the contrast between now and later. What are the barriers that stand in the way of turning into that ideal future later? Once you recognize them, you could start working on them now.

Imagine yourself in old age. Looking back at now, what do you wish you would have done more or differently with your time?     5     And how can you prioritize the future now, so that when you look back on it later, you think of it fondly?

Once you do such things, you will make choices that will benefit both your present self and future self.

7 . Music is arguably the most life-enriching academic subject.     1    . It can bring lots of important benefits to your child’s education, many of which you may not have considered before.

Increase language capabilities

Music and language have a far-reaching relationship. Musical training stimulates the same part of the brain that deals with understanding language. Children who have some exposure to music al education will, therefore, have a greater understanding of tones and how different phrases are arranged.     2    .

Improve hand-eye coordination (协调)

    3    . It takes considerable hand-eye coordination to learn almost any instrument. Those who master their craft are blessed with a unique skill; it’s something that can be applied to other areas of general life. It can also help elsewhere in education, as writing skills and art require the hands and eyes to work together.

    4    

Music is a great way for your child to meet new people and create lasting friendships. If they decide to take up music as an extracurricular (课外的) activity, they’ll be bonding with like-minded children who share their passion. In a time when children are increasingly interested in communicating online and focusing on digital skills, music is a refreshing return to face-to-face contact.

Bring about a sense of achievement

When your child does achieve a musical goal, they get the incredible satisfaction that comes from working hard to obtain something.     5    . Self-trust is one of the most valuable skills a child can have and music is one of the best ways to allow it to develop in your child.

8 . Floods can come from multiple sources. It can be a hurricane, failed dam, or overflowing river. The disasters can move quickly.     1     It’s important to know how to keep your family and belongings safe during such an event. Full preparation can put you at ease for its coming.

A flood is simply an event where water overflows a natural area and covers normally dry places. In general, there are two types.     2     The soil in these areas can’t absorb a lot of moisture. The water then rapidly runs off the surface resulting in a torrent (激流) of rapidly moving water. River flooding is when a river overflows its banks due to excessive (过分的) water and the situation can get worse if barriers such as a dam or levee (防洪堤) break as well.

A flood can be caused by many things.     3     Living next to a river, dam, on the coast, or in a low-lying area puts you at risk for flooding.

There is no specific flood season.     4     Any time there is a large amount of rain in a short period, flooding can occur. Man-made and natural disasters can also cause flooding outside of those months. For example, the collapse of a dam can cause a flood. A natural disaster, such as a tsunami, can also cause flooding on a massive scale.

    5     Using existing maps and examining low-lying areas can determine high risk areas for flooding. Moreover, flood warnings are sent out to areas that could experience flooding when there is a large amount of rainfall over a short time.

9 . Many people changed residences and are eager to get familiar with their new neighbors. Here’s a quick refresher on making the most of neighborhood relationships.

Begin at the beginning. Building good neighborly relationships starts when you or someone else moves into the area. If a new neighbor moves in, be proactive (主动的) and welcome them to the neighborhood.     1    . Consider taking a plate of cookies or a small housewarming gift. Share your contact information and offer to answer any questions they may have about the community, including your favorite restaurants or the best local service providers.

    2    . Don’t create things that are unpleasant to look at or allow your property’s condition to affect the value of neighboring homes adversely (不利地). Being kind to those around you includes keeping your yard tidy, removing snow from your sidewalks, and collecting trash and recycling bins after the truck has passed.

Be inclusive. If you are hosting a large party, consider extending invitations to your neighbors. During the holiday season, remember the people next door with a card, a homemade goodie, or an offer of assistance. Give without expectations.     3    .

Allow people to be human.     4    , and it’s impossible to know what others are going through. Don’t be too quick to assume a sligh (轻蔑) is personal or intended.

Accept it. If you have tried your best to resolve a conflict without success, let it go. Sadly, some people won’t like you whatever you do. And you aren’t going to enjoy some people.     5    . Be pleasant anyway, and be thankful that you get to live your life and they get to live theirs.

10 . Change can be hard. It means a lack of certainty and predictability.     1     Here are some tips to give your teen to help them cope with change in a healthy way.

    2     Many times, our first response to change is to either deny it, fight it, or run away from it. Unfortunately, none of these strategies help us cope with change successfully. Most of the time we can’t control change, but we can control our response to it. Sometimes, simply saying “things are changing, and that’s OK” can make us feel better.

Control what you can.     3     Having some things that stay the same like walking the dog every evening after dinner reminds us that some things are still the same and allows our brain to rest. It can also help to plan whatever is still in our control or set goals for areas we want to see improve. Useful strategies can include focusing on the problem at hand, developing a plan for action, and asking for advice.

Identify your fears. Our imaginations can get the best of us sometimes, and we might exaggerate the problem. Honestly evaluate the change and consider what the worst case is. Determine what specifically is making you worried.     4    

Talk about solutions more than feelings. One of the most common myths (谬见) of coping with unwanted changes is the idea that we can “work through” our anger, fears, and frustrations by talking about them a lot.     5     In fact, research shows that repeatedly broadcasting negative emotions can make us feel worse. As you talk about the change you are facing, make sure you are focusing on the problem and possible solutions, and avoid focusing solely on your feelings.